The Lotus naming dispute will return to the High Court after the F1 season begins in March.

In London on Monday, a judge rejected Group Lotus’ application for a summary ruling, which would have settled the dispute in the marque’s favour before a full trial.

The separate outfit headed by Tony Fernandes, which is also heading into the 2010 season with the Lotus name, said in a statement that “Team Lotus is delighted” with the decision.

The statement said Group Lotus’ application was thrown out “even before (the judge heard) the arguments of the barristers”.

“(It) took him (the judge) all of three minutes to say ‘Let’s get this whole thing sorted in one go’ (in March),” the Telegraph’s Tom Cary, who attended the hearing, revealed on Twitter.

Cary added that both sides were “taken aback” when Justice Peter Smith brought forward the date of the full trial from late 2011 or even 2012 to March 21.

“Although this decision was never in doubt, it means that we start the 2011 season under the Team Lotus name,” said Team Lotus.

Cary said the judge “also made it clear that he would prefer to see the two sides settle out of court before March 21″, which is a week after the season opener in Bahrain.

HRT will not have a 2011-specification car at any of the three pre-season tests in Spain next month, newly appointed driver Narain Karthikeyan has revealed.

Earlier this month, the Spanish team’s boss Colin Kolles said the new car will not be ready for Valencia early in February and it might also be missing at Jerez shortly afterwards.

“Maybe we will have the new one for the last two tests,” he said.

But Indian Karthikeyan has told the Times of India that he will be driving the 2010 HRT at all of the tests at Valencia, Jerez and then Barcelona.

The fourth and final test will take place over four days in Bahrain a week before the season opener in the island Kingdom.

“Our new car won’t be ready for the first three tests in Spain where I will drive the 2010 car,” said Karthikeyan.

And even when the new car is finally ready, Karthikeyan admitted that the “biggest change” compared to last year’s car will be the Williams transmission.

“We are not likely to use the KERS,” he admitted, albeit confirming that the 2011 car will have an adjustable rear wing.

The 34-year-old also revealed that his 2011 teammate, and HRT’s reserve drivers, will be decided by the team “in a week or so”.

Force India has scheduled a press conference at which the team’s 2011 driver lineup is expected to be announced.
The media has been summoned to the Glasgow headquarters of Scottish whiskey sponsor Whyte and Mackay, which is owned by team boss Vijay Mallya’s UB group.

It is therefore expected that the centrepiece of Wednesday’s announcement will be the promotion to the race seat of 2010 reserve driver and new DTM champion Paul di Resta.

The Scot’s hometown is less than 50 kilometres from Glasgow.

Pirelli and the F1 teams are looking into options so that the sport’s new tyre supplier can test with a fully up-to-date car.
In its development preparations for the 2011 season, the Italian marque has used a 2009-specification Toyota run by the departed F1 team.

But with the 2011-generation cars now set to be launched and tested, Pirelli has reportedly decided that its future testing work should not be done with an outdated two-year-old mule.

And Italy’s Autosprint reports that Pirelli has decided it needs to use a fully-modern F1 car rather than a “hybrid” solution.

Another option rejected on cost grounds is Toyota’s offer to update the TF109 in the wind tunnel so that it better reflects the behaviour of the 2011 cars.

And some teams are reportedly worried about giving away an advantage should Pirelli test a car built by any of the active F1 outfits.

Autosprint said two options are under review by the teams association FOTA. One of them is to use an external team to run a test car designed by an active competitor.

Another option is that, for example if Pirelli schedules seven private track outings, the cars of the seven highest-placed teams are alternatively used for the tyre testing.

Michael Schumacher’s inability to work in a driver simulator hindered his preparation for grands prix in 2010.

That is the claim of a source close to the Mercedes driver, who told the Dutch website f1today.nl that Schumacher does not spend time in simulators because ever since a motorcycle fall in 2009 they have caused him to suffer from motion sickness.

On the other hand, the 42-year-old’s teammate Nico Rosberg – who scored 70 more points than his famous cohort last season – is reportedly renowned for the time he has spent in simulators during his career.

“Nico spends a lot of time in the simulator preparing the car for the grand prix weekends,” said the Mercedes source.

The source added that while Rosberg’s setup work is “largely done” by the time of the first session on Friday morning, “Michael begins with a basic setting”.

“This is one of quite a few very good reasons why Schumacher was sometimes at a disadvantage to Rosberg,” added the source.

However, late last year Mercedes team boss Ross Brawn said he thinks Schumacher would have been more competitive in 2010 if Mercedes had a truly “top” driver simulator.

He said a new simulator is “currently under construction” at Brackley, but “it won’t be fully operational before 2012″.

Giancarlo Fisichella has this week been involved in a minor traffic crash.

The 3-time grand prix winner and now a Ferrari test driver rear-ended a small car driven by a 52-year-old woman in Campagnano, north of Rome, according to Italian media reports.

Fisichella, 38, was driving a Ferrari.

The driver of the car he hit was taken to hospital and discharged shortly afterwards.

Fisichella reportedly told the traffic police – the Polstrada – that he came across a long queue of traffic caused by road works and was not able to stop in time.

In 2005, when Fisichella was caught doing 148kph in a 60kph in Rome, he explained to police that he was rushing to his child who had a high fever.

With Michael Schumacher’s difficult comeback season behind him, Alain Prost does not expect the seven time world champion to be back to full speed in 2011.
Frenchman Prost, who is one of F1′s most successful-ever drivers behind 42-year-old Schumacher, said last year that the German targeting the title in his second career was “unrealistic”.

Prost, 55, said Schumacher used Bridgestone’s tyres as an “excuse” for his lack of pace, with “age” being the main factor.

Now, in a new interview with the Swiss newspaper Le Matin Dimanche, Prost said: “His decision to come back was personal and I respect it.

“I think it’s impossible, at his age, to return to where he was in the past, but I hope he proves me wrong.”

Prost said he does not miss racing in F1 because returning is out of the question, but admitted he would “like to do some laps in a modern car”.

“But only to assess the developments in technology, which has always fascinated me,” he explained.

Organisers of the 2012 US grand prix are expected to shortly receive permission to start digging work at the Austin site.

On New Year’s Eve, it emerged that work commenced in the form of silt fencing, soil drilling for samples and the staking out of the circuit layout.

But this work took place with the organisers only having conditional planning permission, with the Austin American Statesman reporting that the next big step is now set to imminently happen.

The report said promoters have paid $900,000 for the application, and a county spokeswoman confirmed that the permit should be printed some time this week.

The promoters’ lawyer Richard Suttle denied suggestions the target of starting work before 2011 had been missed.

“‘Moving dirt’ includes getting ready for the grading,” he insisted. “We were able to accomplish a lot (in December) in getting ready.

“We may actually be a little ahead of schedule but not much,” he added.

The $900,000 is said to cover the cost of restoring the land to its original condition should the Federal Emergency Management Agency reject ultimate permission.

And further permits will have to be issued before actual building construction can take place, with one outstanding issue being who will pay $6m for local road improvements.

A specialist lawyer has played down hopes the Lotus naming dispute might be settled this week.

A short time ago on Monday afternoon, the initial hearings kicked off inside London’s High Court.

A lawyer for Group Lotus will summarise the Proton-owned marque’s application for a summary judgement against Team Lotus’ right to use the ‘Lotus’ name for its team.

“Many (people are) confused about (the) case today,” Team Lotus boss Tony Fernandes wrote on Twitter. “It’s not about (the) Team Lotus name (and) who owns it, which is in November.”

He explained that Monday’s events centre only on Group Lotus’ argument that it had the power to revoke the Lotus Racing naming license, with Fernandes and his lawyers insisting that termination was “unlawful”.

Intellectual property lawyer Mark Daniels, of Browne Jacobson, said the judge at Monday’s hearing will be “reluctant” to grant Group Lotus’ push to end the case now, “especially when so much is at stake commercially”.

“This is an opportunity for the judge to make some comments to try to provoke a settlement,” Daniels told the BBC.

Indian grand prix boss Mark Hughes has quit, the promoters of this October’s inaugural event have confirmed.
Hughes, formerly involved with the F1 race in Bahrain, was in charge of the promoter Jaypee group’s project, which has a ten-year contract to host the event on a bespoke circuit currently under construction near Delhi.

An AFP media report on Monday said Hughes resigned last month for “personal reasons”.

A Jaypee spokesman said Hughes has been replaced by Azhar Ghazili, who formerly worked as an organiser for the formula one race in Malaysia.

“Mr Ghazali is a very capable man and he’s more than making up for Mr Hughes’s absence,” the spokesman added.

Hughes said he is now working with the organisers of the Abu Dhabi grand prix at Yas Marina, clarifying that he is “still closely associated with Jaypee” and “still advising them on the upcoming Indian grand prix”.

The Jaypee spokesman said the FIA is expected to homologate the new Jaypee Group Circuit in “July-August”.

Australian grand prix boss Ron Walker has scolded Melbourne’s Lord Mayor for questioning the future of the city’s annual event.
Lord Mayor Robert Doyle wrote in the Herald Sun’s Sunday edition that the Albert Park race is no longer value for money for the Victorian state taxpayer.

He speculated that one possible outcome was that “cranky” Bernie Ecclestone will replace the race by taking “the dollars of either an Asian or oil-rich Middle Eastern state”.

“It’s a sad thing for the mayor of a major capital city to come out so publicly against a major event like the grand prix,” Australian Grand Prix Corporation chairman Walker told local radio 3AW.

He insists that criticism about the $50m taxpayer bill is only one side of the story.

“On the other side … there’s an economic benefit of around $160 million,” said Walker.

“All of Mr Doyle’s hotels, all of his restaurants do a very good trade. Then of course there’s the tax that’s collected of about $18 million a year. It’s a huge profit for Melbourne,” he insisted.

Also in the wake of Lord Mayor Doyle’s comments, new Victorian premier Ted Baillieu admitted that the $50m taxpayer bill will need to be reduced if a new deal beyond 2014 is sought.

Former F1 driver JJ Lehto is facing a charge of manslaughter.
A friend of the ex-Sauber and Benetton racer was killed last year when the speedboat they were travelling on smashed into a bridge pillar in his native Finland.

Lehto, who had head injuries and failed a blood alcohol test, told police he had no memory of the incident.

But local media reports say Lehto, who raced in F1 until 1994, is now open to a manslaughter charge because police have concluded that he was driving the boat.

The reports also said Lehto has been fined for recklessness in travelling at closer to 40 knots in the 5 knot zone, and that he could be sued by the family of his deceased friend.

With an announcement believed to be imminent, it is expected that Adrian Sutil is definitely staying with Force India in 2011.

The Silverstone based team’s chief operating officer Otmar Szafnauer has admitted that while Sutil is sometimes outspoken, he is among F1′s very best drivers.

“He is sometimes almost too honest,” Szafnauer, referring to the team’s ever-present German racer, told Auto Motor und Sport.

“In terms of driving, he sits directly behind Alonso, Hamilton, Vettel and Kubica among the category of the top drivers in formula one,” he insisted.

Force India’s team boss and owner Vijay Mallya told the same German publication that he is also happy with 28-year-old Sutil.

“He has grown with the team and contributed to our improvements,” said the Indian billionaire.

“He is also developing personally and I expect this upwards trend to continue,” added Mallya.

On an outing near his Swiss home with a German reporter and Sutil’s TechArt Porsche GT2, the 71-grand prix veteran confirmed Force India’s progress of the past years.

“The organisation is better, Mercedes and McLaren have helped us and our design department is working professionally,” he said.

And after the team’s top form of 2009, Sutil admitted he is hoping to get another chance at securing a place on the podium.

“We were down in the pack and then so suddenly in it to win, and I was so excited and surprised that I didn’t manage a perfect lap in qualifying,” he rued.

A German newspaper has published more details about its claim that Bernie Ecclestone paid a $50 million bribe amid the sale of F1′s commercial rights five years ago.

Earlier in January, the sport’s chief executive vowed to “fight it in the courts” if publications continued to allege he paid German banker Gerhard Gribkowsky a $50 million kickback when the rights were sold by BayernLB to F1′s current owners CVC.

The newsmagazine Stern subsequently alleged that the payments to Gribkowsky were linked with a company called Petara — a word made up from the names of Ecclestone’s daughters Petra and Tamara.

Now, the Suddeutsche Zeitung (SZ) newspaper claims it has found “concrete evidence” about the Ecclestone link.

The evidence is reportedly a letter to 80-year-old Briton Ecclestone from an Austrian company called GREP GmbH, which received the bulk of the Gribkowsky payment.

The letter, marked as confidential and dated December 14 2007, demands that Ecclestone pay a missing instalment of $2.3 million as well as late penalties.

The writer was a lawyer working for Gribkowsky, and SZ cited sources in revealing that Ecclestone was “outraged” when he received the letter in London.

The latest media report said Formula One Management has renewed its denial that the company or its boss Ecclestone were involved with or had any knowledge about the payments to Gribkowsky.

Kamui Kobayashi will be at the wheel when Sauber’s 2011 car makes its track debut on the day before group testing begins at Valencia.

Like Renault, the Swiss team has booked the Ricardo Tormo circuit to unveil its new single seater next Monday.

Team owner and boss Peter Sauber told the Swiss newspaper Blick that it will be Kobayashi at the wheel when the Ferrari-powered C30 does its maiden laps for promotional filming purposes in the afternoon.

“I am looking forward to the moment when it goes out of the box,” admitted the 67-year-old. “Even after 18 years in formula one, the anticipation is still just as great as it was in 1993 with the C12.”